Housing Delivery in Bournemouth Gary Josey Director of Housing and Communities gary.josey@bournemouth.gov.uk

Lorraine Mealings Head of Housing and Customer & Deputy Director for Housing lorraine.mealings@bournemouth.gov.uk Overview

• Introduction to housing issues in Bournemouth

• Our emerging wider ‘enabling’ role

• Different models of delivery we have used

• The way forward Our Housing Profile

- 183,500 population, 82,374 households

- Large private rented sector

- Retained stock / HRA – 5,100 rented units

- Affordability issues – home ownership and market rent

- Regeneration areas defined

- 3,000 known HMOs

- 4,600 on Housing Register in Housing Need

- University Town

- 730 new homes p.a. in Local Plan

- Mostly windfall development

- Greenbelt and Heathland issues Enabling overall housing supply

- Elphicke-House Report 2015 was key

- Wider ‘enabling’ role across all tenures

- *Landlord* and *developer* and *strategic enabler* roles

- Cross party support for increasing housing supply

- Housing is key to economic growth Development of Affordable Housing on HRA land

- Registered Provider in 2009

- Housing Development Team well established

- Approximately 200 units completed or acquired since 2009/10 and more in the pipeline

- Majority are new build

- Property acquisition – ex-RTB properties

- HRA and appropriated General Fund land

- Various funding sources including HRA reserves

- Open market tendered and some built in-house

- Squeeze on HRA finances? General Needs Duck Lane Specialist housing HMO conversions Town Centre Vision

- Housing supply and economic growth

- Additional 1,500-2,000 people living in Town Centre over 5-8 years

- Council owned surface car-parks

- 17 sites - 20 year vision

- Bournemouth Development Company is a joint venture

- Limited Liability Partnership – Council and Morgan Sindall Investments - land value and profit share benefits

- Additional income benefits - Section 106 contributions, Council Tax and New Homes Bonus

- Leyton Mount and Madiera Road schemes completed

- 3 schemes in next phase The Citrus Building (Leyton Mount)

Madiera Road Local Government Association

ANNUAL 2016

CONFERENCE

5-7 July | Bournemouth International Centre Use of other Council General Fund assets

- Gladstone Mews - Community Land Trust
- Princess Road site – 110+ units, mixed tenure
- Palmerston Road site – shared ownership, appropriated land
- Two sites being sold for capital receipt and to maximise density
- Managed by our Housing Development Team
- Use of both HRA and PWLB borrowing Companies

3 housing related companies now established :-

- **BBML** – Oct 14, c100 FTEs, £6.6m annual turnover

- **Seascape South** – Apr 15, no staff, £522k annual turnover in year 1

- **Seascape Homes and Property Limited** – Feb 16 Background to Seascape Homes and Property Limited

Large private rented sector locally, but many barriers:

- Bouyant rental market → Unaffordable rents and non benefit-reliant customers
- Overall reluctance to house homeless households due to risks
- Welfare reforms – direct payments, Benefit Cap, Universal Credit
- Additional assurances – references, rent in advance, guarantors etc. Aims of portfolio

• To discharge the Council’s **statutory homeless duty**

• To provide **high quality and well managed** private rented properties

• To generate a **trading surplus** for the Council

• To invest in additional **public sector assets** for the **longer term** Governance

- Wholly owned company
- Limited by shares
- Council as the sole shareholder
- All dividends back to the Council
- Board within Group Company structure Seascape Homes and Property Limited – Phase 1

Phase 1 – acquisition of existing homes

- Purchase 110 new existing units
- £11m Public Works Loans Board borrowing plus capital receipts plus s106
- 100% referrals for homelessness duty
- Council to purchase all
- Some retained within Council - non-secure tenancies
- Some to be leased on to Seascape Homes and Property Limited - assured shorthold tenancies
- HMOs and self-contained
- Cross subsidised rent levels
- Surpluses from Year 3 Phase 2 business plan

• Increase portfolio

• New build properties

• Diversifying into other customer markets (non-homeless)

• Providing a management service to private landlords

• Convert HMOs to self-contained The new Housing and Finance Institute (HFi)

• External assessment in March 2016 - ‘Housing Business Ready’ programme

• We passed all 18 assessment criteria!

• Particular strengths: ➢ political leadership ➢ officer experience ➢ track record ➢ appetite to do more

• team@thehfi.com The Way Forward – final thoughts....

• Lots more to do

• Explore different approaches and models

• The ‘will’ to do more

• Continually learn from others Gary Josey Director of Housing and Communities gary.josey@bournemouth.gov.uk

Lorraine Mealings Head of Housing and Customer & Deputy Director for Housing lorraine.mealings@bournemouth.gov.uk Local Government Association

ANNUAL 2016

CONFERENCE

5-7 July | Bournemouth International Centre